It is a well known fact that a group which cannot protect itself economically will always be a slave to others. It is even more certain when that group claims the status of being the most educated immigrant group in the United States. This country, as every immigrant group has found out, is a land of opportunities. You can become whatever it is you want to be. But we the continental African immigrants have let the success which others have attained pass us by.
Yes, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the African immigrant group is the most educated immigrant group in the United States. That means more educated than the Japanese, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Indians, or even the Europeans! It means we possess more undergraduate and postgraduate degrees than any other group. It means we have within the African immigrant group individuals the most professional degrees—medical doctors, engineers, economists, scientists and others in various fields.
But the question is what has our being the most educated immigrant group done for us or for our people? Well, the answer is absolutely nothing.
With all that education you would have thought that we would be in the same position economically that the so-called groups which are "below" us in education have attained. Rather, we behave like economic illiterates. We are ashamed of who we are and what we are. We condemn everything African or Black, because we suffer from an inferiority complex. We would rather do business with another person than do business with our own group; we would rather enrich another community than make investment in ours.
I have always been amazed at the stupidity of a group of people who feel that they are way high above their brothers and sisters in this country. But when it really comes down to the nitty-gritty we are absolutely nothing because we don't have the orientation of a people who are intelligent. There is a difference between being intelligent and being educated. Now, let's look at how these two words differ. "Educated" is used to mean "learned, academic, erudite, literary, literate, scholarly, well-read.” On the other hand, "Intelligent" means "analytical, talented, gifted, advanced, bright, shrewd and clever."
We are well-read, academically qualified. Yes we read and write very well. I may even add bookish. On the other hand, are we "clever, shrewd, talented, gifted or bright?" Absolutely not.
Listen, you can be well educated and still be a stark-naked illiterate. And I must totally admit that, through our behavior pattern, we fit the category of being well educated and stark-naked illiterates.
My proposition is that a group of people which cannot protect itself economically will always be slaves to others. The other immigrant groups though "less educated” have made spectacular progress in economics, science, politics, and the accumulation of great wealth.
Of course, we can take refuge in the excuse that it was barely 15 years that Africans decided to make America their homes. We can continue to wallow in the self-pity of this kind of excuse. But let me say that it does not require an educated idiot to understand that if you continue to abandon your own community and invest in others you are definitely an illiterate.
You may ask the reason as to why I am this forthright. Well, let me tell you. They say that charity begins at home, although it shouldn't end there. So, I am going to begin with my own industry in talking about why I am labeling an educated immigrant group as economic illiterates.
I must confess that I am deeply saddened and offended that the African media is not receiving the kind of attention that our people pay to other newspapers or magazines. For them it is a status symbol to be seen reading, or rather really carrying, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Time or Newsweek magazine. It conveys to people looking at us that "learned, academic, erudite, literary, literate, scholarly, well-read" adjective that we so avidly seek to justify our existence.
Let me say this to our people. The above-mentioned newspapers or magazines were started by individuals just like the individuals who are today struggling to build the African Sun Times, West African News, African Herald or other African newspapers, or Nigeria &Africa and African Eye magazines. But the difference is that their people decided that they must not be allowed to fail, that they as a media play a major role in the society. These news groups cannot offer you the same kind of news or insight that the African media brings to you.
When some of my continental brothers and sisters speak to me, I am embarrassed at their comments because they are totally ignorant of what is happening in the motherland. They think that by carrying these elitists newspapers or magazines, it would automatically inject knowledge about what is happening in Africa into their brains. Bunkum! This is just one example of what happens in every facet of the African community.
The New York Times was not ready-made as we see it today. It evolved through the support and advertisements of their people.
Dr. Chika A. Onyeani is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of the African Sun Times and Executive Producer and host of his own TV program, "This Week in Africa," on Manhattan Cable Network, prime time on Saturdays at 8:30 p.m.
Channel 34.
